By Shamaoma Musonda –
NEW Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) treasurer Rix Mweemba has promised to instil strict financial controls and enhance income generation at the beleaguered association.
Speaking for the first time after he was co-opted into the FAZ executive committee to replace Kelvin Mutafu who quit his position last month, Mweemba said he was fully aware of the task ahead and was ready for it.
He said yesterday that his priority would be to strengthen financial controls at Football House.
The FAZ, through spokesperson Nkweto Tembwe, announced in a statement yesterday that Mweemba, a former FAZ treasurer, was the man given the nod to replace Mutafu after a full executive meeting held on Friday night.
Tembwe said that Mweemba was an experienced football administrator with a strong financial background and was the right man for the job.
“Mazabuka businessman and accountant, Rix Mweemba has been co-opted into the association’s executive committee as treasurer, replacing Kelvin Mutafu who resigned last month. He is experienced and has a successful financial mind.
“A full FAZ executive committee meeting chaired by president Kalusha Bwalya made the decision yesterday. The appointment is with immediate effect,” Tembwe said.
Mutafu, the former FAZ treasurer, quit his position a day after a damning revelation alleging there was corruption in FAZ and this had led to the ending of a deal with renowned kit manufacturer Nike.
Mutafu also stated that there was a match ticketing scam at Football House which saw tickets being airlifted from South Africa instead of letting local companies handle the business.
He said his efforts to stop the wrongs just made him enemies with some fellow executive members and eventually got pushed out as chairperson of the Match Organising Committee (MoC).
A day after the revelations, Mutafu quit his position on November 20 with the Times revealing three days later that Mweemba would replace him.
Mweemba is not new to FAZ and the Zambian football family as he served in the same position between 2004 and 2008 in the second reign of immediate past FAZ president Teddy Mulonga.
Mweemba said he was excited at being given the honour to serve the country in this manner again.
“This is a huge honour and privilege. I will heed the call for national duty and I am happy to serve Zambia in this way again. I am indebted to the president (Kalusha) and the committee for bestowing this trust on me.
“One thing I can promise is that I will live up to the challenge of the office, ensure that we all work together and pull our energies in one direction. I’ll make sure I enhance income generation and strengthen financial controls,” Mweemba said.
Mweemba made his mark at Kaleya Smallholders Company Limited (Kascol) in Mazabuka which has turned out to be a huge sugarcane out-grower cooperative and now a business model worldwide.
Mweemba said the fact that he was returning to FAZ meant he still had something to contribute to the country and that he would work diligently for the benefit of football and the Zambian football fans.
“The Zambian fans love football, they are among the most passionate in the world and this is what will always remind me to make sure that football is the winner. I will perform to the high expectation of all,” he said.
In the past few months, Mweemba, who is also a FIFA instructor, has been a facilitator of the Football Administration and Management courses that FAZ has been conducting.